Quote (AnomanderRake @ Jun 10 2013 02:09am)
I would say that a lot more appreciation for the show comes from seeing the novel characters flesh out. On its own, A Song of Ice and Fire (the book series it's based on) is an amazing and well written series. Even the dialogue alone is about 100x more elegant and compelling than it is on the show.
I am very much enjoying watching some of my favourite scenes on the show (and also getting disappointed with seeing some of my favourite scenes left out of the show). It's also great seeing your favourite characters and locations get fleshed out, as they did an amazing job with casting and scenery.
However, as a show alone, I don't think it's that amazing. If it wasn't based off one of my favourite book series, I would place the show at the level of, say, Dexter or True Blood (not even close to godlike shows like The Wire or Breaking Bad). The depth of the show is too much for the HBO imposed 10 episode limit, and as a result, a lot of the pacing and character development suffers. A lot of the plot seems artificially accelerated, and a lot of scenes contrived. It especially gets annoying with how thinly they spread it. (The books have even more depth, but the writer organized it much better IMO).
Overall, I wouldn't recommend it too much if you haven't read aSoIaF. But I strongly recommend those books. Read them and then watch GoT. Otherwise, you may as well spend your TV time watching a titan of a show, like The Wire.
I started watching the show before reading the books. Seasons 1 and 2 were enough to get me hooked on it. Right after S2 ended, I picked up the books, burned through them in a month or so, then spent another month or so on the fan site researching every detail about the series. Watching Season 3 after having read the books was a better viewing experience. Everything was way less confusing. Understanding all the nuances made me appreciate the genius of the show that much more.